NIGHTSHADE - USA

NIGHTSHADE - DEAD OF NIGHT - MUSIC FOR NATIONS  
Nightshade, a new band as of 1987, was essentially the continuation of Q5. Nightshade had added bassist Anthony Magnelli and, with the departure of guitarist Floyd Rose, slimmed down to a quartet. To emphasize the connection, the album's cover artwork featured the phrase "Formerly Q5" and even depicted the same asymmetrical spaceship as seen on the cover of Q5's debut, Steel The Light.
Trivia and background aside, the real question is how the music compares to Q5 and how much metal quality does it pack. The new band's new album begins strangely well. Surrender packs the same riff as Missing In Action, which opened Steel The Light. which is annoying and gratifying at the same time. The quartet is ripping itself off. This bodes well for musical enjoyment and Nightshade staying true to the quality of Q5's brilliant debut, but do they have the material to satisfy the listener? Galloping speed, upbeat dynamics, a frenetic metal solo… they are all here. What has changed, however, is the more raspy vocals of Jonathan Scott K. He does deliver a scream on Surrender, but for the most part the song has him operating at a lower register than his offering with Q5. Interestingly, the title track Dead Of Night also sings of 'light' as did the title track for Steel The Light. This song is a blistering metal ripper. The production is hardly top-notch, but the song has a ripping lead, a hard rhythm and aggressive vocals. A listener can hear that Floyd, and his impressive technical soloing are gone, but Rick Pierce remains and no metal guitar fan will be left disappointed. Situation Critical a guitar-oriented hard rocker, but wait, is Scott K. trying to mimic Udo Dirkschneider? Or Halford? Maybe a bit of both. Still, it is a solid workmanlike song. These guys have a penchant for wordplay and so the next song is called Into Knightshade. This song is ruled by Pierce and mentions "hunger" like its predecessor. Speaking of 'hunger' the track has a King Kobra feel to it. Either way, the song has a mysterious vibe and lyrics here, which is in contrast to Rock You Sinners and it's "get ready" chorus with a mention of Steely Dan that follows. The guitar solo, however, is inspired by Van Halen.
Side B starts with the more tepid and standard Somebody's Watching You. Again, the rhythm is solid and the solo a highlight. One could do without the bluesy vibe however. The drumming on Violent Times is creative and energetic, but the songs on Side B are a mere shadow of those on Side A, which is reminiscent of what happened on Steel The Light. Song after side B song could have fit in the grooves of a Whitesnake 1987 album. By now, this reviewer is convinced the band is doing this intentionally. It is obvious. Last Train Home retains the bluesy feel of a Gary Moore track, but seems designed for the live environment. The album closes with Prophecy 1616, another Biblical reference showing the band's penchant for fantasy. This one refers to Armageddon, making it a fitting closer to the album.
Nightshade's debut is a good heavy metal purchase, but side B fails to live up to the quality of side A. - Ali "The Metallian

NIGHTSHADE - MEN OF IRON - HELLION  
Much like its predecessor, which was Nightshade's debut, Men Of Iron has a lazy cover. Either the band has little visual inspiration or it lacks any modicum of a budget to give its albums a decent artwork… or the members are lazy. The fact that the sophomore follows the debut by ten years could actually speak to any of these notions. Still, it is always a good sign when an album begins with a song called Speedburner!
The song has real metal riffing. The band is like a chameleon because, on this record, it sounds purely like Saxon with, of course, Biff Byford on vocals. The metal is good stuff, but extra kudos are accorded to the band because this is 2001 and metal is not exactly hip or marketable. That may also explain why this album followed the last one by a decade. The vocals of Biff, er, Jonathan hit the right notes, the solo is captivating and the drumming alternately keeps the beat or adds gusto. The lyrics tell you all you need to know, "I want speed, I wanna burn/And light this place on fire…" which goes just right with the NWOBHM riffs. Commit To The Night is pure early Saxon again and, recalling the mentions of "hunger" on the band's 1991 debut here is a sample lyric from this record: "Give in to the hunger!" The bass shines here, the solo takes the listener for one hell of a spin and the vocalist, and his latest iteration of a tone, signals he is clearly comfortable in his skin. Dreamland has a renaissance acoustic start and is as good as one of those early Warlord songs like Deliver Us From Evil. This Thing Kicks delivers more Saxon vocals, albeit with Scorpions' riffing. To boot, Blood And Iron features the following lyrics: "With the power and the glory…"
As good as the aforementioned is, Men Of Iron does bear some misses. Curtain Falls and its New Wave pots-and-pan-ish drums, the non-event The Quest and a cover version of a Grand Funk Railroad song are hardly special. Curtain Falls talks about Jesus being a gambler when, in fact, he hated money and the moneyed if fables are to be believed. Incidentally, no song mentions men and iron together although the words appear separately on the lyrics sheet. Word stitching remains alive with Jonathan Scott K and vintage metal goodness overall remains alive with the band as a whole. - Ali "The Metallian"

NIGHTSHADE - STAND AND BE TRUE - HELLION  
There was a gap of ten years between Nightshade's first and second album. Another eight years have passed by between Stand And Be True and its predecessor, which was the act's aforementioned second album. It is to be expected that this album would sound different than Nightshade's other releases. Bands change sounds regularly and here we have a larger-than-average gap to boot.
The first thing that comes to mind is that there are good riffs, better leads and hard rock vocals, but they all seem detached from one another. It feels as if they were recorded at different studios at different times. This is a more standard hard rock album than the members' previous output and even contains vocals with the vibe of a party. In terms of individual songs, Undead has a Whitesnake-ish vibe at first. The guitars take it into heavier territory. The Walls Of Derry could've sounded Celtic, but instead has a bluesy feel with staccato guitars. Singer Jonathan K maintains a smoky atmosphere throughout. That is some heck of a lead work. This is easily the ace in the deck of Stand And Be True. Strange Aeons (Pt.1) is an instrumental that begins similarly to Bryan Adams' Run To You. Strange Aeons (Pt.2) has a boogie vibe mixed with hard rock. It is a track whose style could be attributed to Jackyl or Rose Tattoo. Not trying to insult Nightshade, a band respected at Metallian Towers, but the title track's music, pace and lyrics - with its mentions of "brothers," "warrior" and "father" among others - are reminiscent of Manowar. Not a special song. The one after is called We Will Fight - "we will fight for freedom" and "we will fight for glory" - and is an upbeat cracker, while Time closes the album in decent fashion with something of a commercial nature despite its loudness. - Ali "The Metallian"